Kim Jung Gi (1975–2022), influential comic book artist
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2 min readKim Jung Gi was a South Korean comic book artist known for creating large drawings for live audiences.
- Died: October 3, 2022 (Who else died on October 3?)
- Details of death: Died in Paris of a heart attack at the age of 47.
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A love for detail
Kim illustrated the comic “Tiger the Long Tail” with writer Seung-Jin Park, as well as illustrating titles including “SpyGames” and “McCurry, NYC, 9/11.” He also drew covers for Marvel Comics’ “Civil War II,” contributed artwork to the video game “League of Legends,” and published his own sketchbooks, packed with drawings. But what connected fans with Kim most deeply was his live sessions, in which he would quickly create large, intricate drawings in front of crowds at conventions and galleries. He drew from his imagination and memory without any reference material, typically creating a drawing with some components in mind but improvising large parts. Kim talked to his audiences as he worked, joking as well as illuminating what he was working on and how he did it.
Notable quote
“I’ve always drawn from memory; whether it was something I heard from people around me, or the animals I’ve seen from TV, or the scenes I saw from a movie. My drawings were always based on the things I saw or the things I heard, and it was only later that I found out that my method was different from other artists. Looking back, all the things I did for fun was actually a great training for me.” —from a 2018 interview for Visual Atelier 8
Tributes to Kim Jung Gi
Full obituary: Los Angeles Times
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